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Studies in the Sierra. No. III.-Ancient Glaciers and Their Pathways.

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STUDIES IN THE SIERRA*
By John Muir
NO. III. ANCIENT GLACIERS AND THEIR PATHWAYS
THOUGH the gigantic glaciers of the Sierra are dead, their
history is indelibly recorded in characters of rock, mountain, cation, and forest; and, although other hieroglyphics are
being incessantly engraved over these, "line upon line," the
glacial characters are so enormously emphasized that they rise
free and unconfused in sublime relief, through every after inscription, whether of the torrent, the avalanche, or the restless
heaving atmosphere.
In order to give the reader definite conceptions of the magnitude and aspect of these ancient ice-rivers, I will briefly outline those which were most concerned in the formation of Yosemite Valley and its canon branches. We have seen (in the
previous paper) f that Yosemite received the simultaneous thrust
of the Yosemite Creek, Hoffmann, Tenaya, South Lyell, and
Ulilouette glaciers. These welded themselves together into one
huge trunk, which swept down through the valley, receiving
small affluents in its course from Pohono, Sentinel, and Indian
canons, and those on both sides of El Capitan Rock. At this period most of the upper portions of the walls of the valley were
bare; but during its earliest history, the wide mouths of these
several glaciers formed an almost uninterrupted covering of
ice. All the ancient glaciers of the Sierra fluctuated in depth
and width, and in degree of individuality, down to the latest
glacial days. It must, therefore, be distinctly borne in mind that
the following sketches of these upper Merced glaciers relate
only to their separate condition, and to that phase of their separate condition which they presented toward the close of the
period when Yosemite and its branches were works nearly accomplished.
* Reprinted from the Overland Monthly of July, 1874. This is the third of a
series of seven studies in which Mr, Muir developed his theories of the geology of
the Sierra.—Editor.
t Reprinted in Sierra Club Bulletin, Vol. X, No. 1, January, 1916.
Studies in the Sierra
185
YOSEMITE CREEK GLACIER
The broad, many-fountained glacier to which the basin of
Yosemite Creek belonged, was about fourteen miles in length
by four in width, and in many places was not less than a thousand feet in depth. Its principal tributaries issued from lofty
amphitheatres laid well back among the northern spurs of the
Hoffmann range. These at first pursued a westerly course;
then, uniting with each other and absorbing a series of small
affluents from the Tuolumne divide, the trunk thus formed
swept round to the south in a magnificent curve, and poured its
ice into Yosemite in cascades two miles wide. This broad glacier formed a kind of wrinkled ice-cloud. As it grew older, it
became more regular and riverlike; encircling peaks overshadowed its upper fountains, rock islets rose at intervals among
its shallowing currents, and its bright sculptured banks, nowhere overflowed, extended in massive simplicity all the way
to its mouth. As the ice-winter drew near a close, the main
trunk, becoming torpid, at length wholly disappeared in the sun,
and a waiting multitude of plants and animals entered the new
valley to inhabit the mansions prepared for them. In the meantime the chief tributaries, creeping slowly back into the shelter
of their fountain shadows, continued to live and work independently, spreading moraine soil for gardens, scooping basins for
lakelets, and leisurely completing the sculpture of their fountains. These also have at last vanished, and the whole basin is
now full of light. Forests flourish luxuriantly over all its broad
moraines, lakes and meadows nestle among its domes, and a
thousand flowery gardens are outspread along its streams.
HOFFMANN GLACIER
The short, swift-flowing Hoffmann Glacier offered a striking
contrast to the Yosemite Creek, in the energy and directness of
its movements, and the general tone and tendencies of its life.
The erosive energy of the latter was diffused over a succession
of low boulderlike domes. Hoffmann Glacier, on the contrary,
moved straight to its mark, making a descent of 5000 feet in
about five miles, steadily deepening and contracting its current,
and finally thrusting itself against the upper portion of Yosemite in the form of a wedge of solid ice, six miles in length by

STUDIES IN THE SIERRA*
By John Muir
NO. III. ANCIENT GLACIERS AND THEIR PATHWAYS
THOUGH the gigantic glaciers of the Sierra are dead, their
history is indelibly recorded in characters of rock, mountain, cation, and forest; and, although other hieroglyphics are
being incessantly engraved over these, "line upon line" the
glacial characters are so enormously emphasized that they rise
free and unconfused in sublime relief, through every after inscription, whether of the torrent, the avalanche, or the restless
heaving atmosphere.
In order to give the reader definite conceptions of the magnitude and aspect of these ancient ice-rivers, I will briefly outline those which were most concerned in the formation of Yosemite Valley and its canon branches. We have seen (in the
previous paper) f that Yosemite received the simultaneous thrust
of the Yosemite Creek, Hoffmann, Tenaya, South Lyell, and
Ulilouette glaciers. These welded themselves together into one
huge trunk, which swept down through the valley, receiving
small affluents in its course from Pohono, Sentinel, and Indian
canons, and those on both sides of El Capitan Rock. At this period most of the upper portions of the walls of the valley were
bare; but during its earliest history, the wide mouths of these
several glaciers formed an almost uninterrupted covering of
ice. All the ancient glaciers of the Sierra fluctuated in depth
and width, and in degree of individuality, down to the latest
glacial days. It must, therefore, be distinctly borne in mind that
the following sketches of these upper Merced glaciers relate
only to their separate condition, and to that phase of their separate condition which they presented toward the close of the
period when Yosemite and its branches were works nearly accomplished.
* Reprinted from the Overland Monthly of July, 1874. This is the third of a
series of seven studies in which Mr, Muir developed his theories of the geology of
the Sierra.—Editor.
t Reprinted in Sierra Club Bulletin, Vol. X, No. 1, January, 1916.
Studies in the Sierra
185
YOSEMITE CREEK GLACIER
The broad, many-fountained glacier to which the basin of
Yosemite Creek belonged, was about fourteen miles in length
by four in width, and in many places was not less than a thousand feet in depth. Its principal tributaries issued from lofty
amphitheatres laid well back among the northern spurs of the
Hoffmann range. These at first pursued a westerly course;
then, uniting with each other and absorbing a series of small
affluents from the Tuolumne divide, the trunk thus formed
swept round to the south in a magnificent curve, and poured its
ice into Yosemite in cascades two miles wide. This broad glacier formed a kind of wrinkled ice-cloud. As it grew older, it
became more regular and riverlike; encircling peaks overshadowed its upper fountains, rock islets rose at intervals among
its shallowing currents, and its bright sculptured banks, nowhere overflowed, extended in massive simplicity all the way
to its mouth. As the ice-winter drew near a close, the main
trunk, becoming torpid, at length wholly disappeared in the sun,
and a waiting multitude of plants and animals entered the new
valley to inhabit the mansions prepared for them. In the meantime the chief tributaries, creeping slowly back into the shelter
of their fountain shadows, continued to live and work independently, spreading moraine soil for gardens, scooping basins for
lakelets, and leisurely completing the sculpture of their fountains. These also have at last vanished, and the whole basin is
now full of light. Forests flourish luxuriantly over all its broad
moraines, lakes and meadows nestle among its domes, and a
thousand flowery gardens are outspread along its streams.
HOFFMANN GLACIER
The short, swift-flowing Hoffmann Glacier offered a striking
contrast to the Yosemite Creek, in the energy and directness of
its movements, and the general tone and tendencies of its life.
The erosive energy of the latter was diffused over a succession
of low boulderlike domes. Hoffmann Glacier, on the contrary,
moved straight to its mark, making a descent of 5000 feet in
about five miles, steadily deepening and contracting its current,
and finally thrusting itself against the upper portion of Yosemite in the form of a wedge of solid ice, six miles in length by